Borley

Borley Rectory was a house located in Borley, Essex, famous for being described as "the most haunted house in England" by psychic researcher Harry Price. Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house was badly damaged by fire in 1939 and demolished in 1944. The large Gothic-style rectory had been alleged to be haunted ever since it was built. These reports multiplied suddenly in 1929 after the Daily Mirror newspaper published an account of a visit by Price, who wrote two books supporting claims of paranormal activity. Price's reports prompted a formal study by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), which rejected most of the sightings as either imagined or fabricated and cast doubt on Price's credibility. His claims are now generally discredited by ghost historians. However, neither the SPR's report nor the more recent biography of Price has quelled public interest in these stories, and new books and television documentaries continue to satisfy public fascination with the rectory. A short programme commissioned by the BBC about the alleged manifestations, scheduled to be broadcast in September 1956, was cancelled owing to concerns about a possible legal action by Marianne Foyster, widow of the last rector to live in Borley Rectory. In 1975 the BBC aired a programme entitled The Ghost Hunters that focused on the house and conducted interviews with several psychic researchers, including Peter Underwood. It also featured a late-night psychic investigation of nearby Borley Church.

Borley Church is the parish church in Borley, Essex. The church is in the ecclesiastical parish of Borley and Liston, one of the Fifteen Churches of the North Hinckford Benefice in the Diocese of Chelmsford of the Church of England. The church is a Grade I Listed building, notable for its topiary walk and a large monument to Sir Edward Waldegrave (a member of Mary I of England's privy council) and his wife.

Liston is a small village and civil parish in North Essex, England, located one mile WSW of Long Melford, on the banks of the River Stour. Its parish church dates back to the 12th century, in parts. The parish borders the River Stour, the boundary between Essex and Suffolk. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Foxearth. One of the earliest written documents that mentions Liston is the will of Æthelflæd of Damerham who died between 962 and 991. Her father was Ealdorman Ælfgar who was trying to establish a monastic community at Stoke by Nayland where his family had been buried. She left Liston to Æthelmear a kinsman. She was married three times; first to Ealdoman Byrhtnoth who died at the Battle of Maldon, then to King Edmund in 944 and finally after his death to either Æthelstan Rota, or Æthelstan Half-King. At the time of the Domesday Liston had two manors, one in the hands of Ilbod brother of Arnulf of Hesdin, the other had as Tenant-in-Chief, Hugh of Gournay with the Lord being Geoffrey Talbot. By 1185 one of the manors at Liston was in the hands of Godfrey the Chamberlain and Alice daughter of Robert, their descendants took the surname De Liston, it was associated with the Sergeancy of making the wafers for the king's coronation, and the family held it unto about 1367 when it was sold to Richard Lyons. Shortly after the manor was sacked in the Peasants' Revolt, and Richard Lyons lost his life. The manor of Overhall passed to the King who granted it to Sir Hugh De Segrave in 1383.

Long Melford railway station is a disused station that served the village of Long Melford in Suffolk, England. It opened in 1865 as "Melford" and was renamed "Long Melford" in 1884. The station was on the Stour Valley Railway between Sudbury and Cambridge, operated by the Eastern Counties Railway, as well as a branch line between Long Melford and Bury St Edmunds. Services over the latter route ended in 1961 and the station and Stour Valley line closed in 1967 as part of the Beeching cuts. The station building is now a private residence. A proposal to extend services by building a light railway between Long Melford and Hadleigh was reported in the Haverhill Echo on 10 March 1900, but was never built.

Brundon is a hamlet in the Babergh district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the River Stour near the town of Sudbury (its post town). For transport there is the A131 road nearby. Brundon was recorded in the Domesday Book as Branduna. Brundon Hall is a grade II* listed 18th century building which stands near the former Brundon water mill.

Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a football club based in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. and went on to win the Eastern Counties League Premier Division five seasons in a row as well as reaching the final of the FA Vase in three successive seasons, records for both competitions. They are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division Central and play at the King's Marsh Stadium in the Ballingdon-Brundon area of Sudbury.

Long Melford Football Club is a football club based in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. Affiliated to the Suffolk County FA, they are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division and play at Stoneylands.

Sudbury Common Lands is a 50.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Sudbury in Suffolk. It is owned and managed by the Sudbury Common Lands Charity. This site has ancient wetland with ponds and ditches, and there are locally uncommon species such as flowering rush, tubular water-dropwort and round-fruited rush. There is also grassland which has never been ploughed, and it has diverse grasses and wildflowers. There is access from Melford Road.

Foxearth is a village and civil parish on the borders of north Essex and Suffolk in England, between Long Melford and Cavendish. The neighbouring parishes are Borley, Belchamp Walter, Belchamp Otten, Liston and Pentlow.

Bulmer is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 568, increasing to 584 at the 2011 Census. The village is about 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Sudbury in Suffolk. The settlement of Bulmer Tye is located to the south of the village. Mr and Mrs Andrews, the subject of one of the most famous works of the painter Thomas Gainsborough, are buried in the churchyard whilst a memorial to them hangs within the church itself. The village is home to Bulmer Brick and Tile Company.

Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Sudbury, approximately 16 miles (26 km) from Colchester and 14 miles (23 km) from Bury St Edmunds. It is one of Suffolk's "wool towns" and is a former market town. The parish also includes the hamlets of Bridge Street and Cuckoo Tye. In 2011 the parish had a population of 3918. Its name is derived from the nature of the village's layout (originally concentrated along a 3-mile stretch of a single road) and the Mill ford crossing the Chad Brook (a tributary of the River Stour).

Ballingdon is a suburb of the town of Sudbury and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sudbury, in the Babergh district, in Suffolk, England. Once a separate village in the county of Essex. It is the only part of the town to the south of the River Stour. In 1951 the parish had a population of 458. The village developed on the important ancient highway from Braintree and Halstead in Essex to Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds. It grew adjacent to a bridge (today known as Ballingdon Bridge) over the River Stour. It dates back to at least the 13th century, and remains the only crossing of the river for several miles in either direction. Ballingdon and Brundon (which formed the township of Ballingdon-cum-Brundon, then in Essex) were added to the borough of Sudbury (and the county of Suffolk) in 1888 as part of the Local Government Act. Around that time it had a population of 831. In 1972 the owners of Ballingdon Hall, responding to a housing development on adjacent land, had it moved half a mile up Ballingdon Hill on the back of a large transporter; the event was watched by 10,000 people. Ballingdon came to be home to many businesses, evidence of which can be seen in the architecture of the buildings, with large shop windows and other tell-tale signs. This was because before Ballingdon became part of Suffolk it was cheaper to open a business on the Essex side of the river, as no levy had to be paid to Sudbury town council. By 2011 only eight businesses remained open outside the industrial units, just three of them retail outlets. Ballingdon was home to two brickworks, long since vanished, but maps of their locations can be found online. The Allen family operation (on Middleton Road) was the most advanced, and barges made their way up a specially constructed cut from the River Stour, which passed the brickworks and even continued under Middleton Road. The clay was sourced locally, and brick makers were expected to meet a target of 1,000 bricks per day. The hand-making of bricks has long since been superseded by machines, but can still be seen at Bulmer Brick and Tile, who offer tours to schools and adults. Today Ballingdon Street is a conservation area and contains numerous listed buildings. King's Marsh Stadium, home of A.F.C. Sudbury, is located in the area. In September 2018, Ballingdon held its first fete in living memory, raising money for the Eden Rose Coppice. The fete, held on Kone Vale, has also taken place in 2019 and 2022, raising a total of £9,000 in its first three events for local good causes.